The price of a language app is often not one number: many vary it by country, by currency, by the store you buy through and by whatever promotion is running that week. What stays put is the shape of the bill, and there are only a handful: free with a paid tier, a subscription course, a tutor paid by the lesson, a free exchange with paid extras, a general AI chatbot subscription, and a flat subscription like Parla's, which is 14 euro a month or 99 euro a year, VAT included, after seven free days.
This page gives no figures for anyone else, on purpose. A number copied from a review site, or remembered from last year, would be a guess dressed up as a fact, and the figure you would see is personal anyway. The shape is what decides how the money leaves your account, so the shape is what is described here.
Why the figure moves
Many apps sell through the phone's app store as well as their own website, and the two can charge differently. Many price by country and show the amount in your local currency. Many run sales often enough that the price on a given day is partly a matter of timing. And many show a monthly figure that is really a yearly payment divided by twelve.
None of that is unusual or hidden: it is how software is commonly sold. It does mean that the honest answer to "what does it cost" is often "it depends where you are standing", and that the checkout screen, in your currency and on your store, is the only place the real figure appears.
Free, with an optional paid tier
Many drill apps and some course apps have a free tier that is a product in its own right rather than a countdown. You can start, use it daily and never pay. The paid tier usually adds things around the core: no ads, offline use, extra review tools, sometimes features for speaking or conversation.
What this shape does to you: starting costs nothing and stopping costs nothing, so the real decision is less whether to pay than whether the thing you came for sits on the free side of the line or behind it. If conversation practice is what you want, check which tier holds it before comparing prices, because some apps sell more than one paid level and the first may not include it.
A subscription course
A course app usually lets you try a little for free and then asks for a subscription to go further: lessons in a set order, grammar explanations, review. The subscription is commonly sold in several lengths, and the longer ones usually cost less per month. Some also sell a one-time option that does not renew.
What this shape does to you: the lowest monthly figure usually belongs to the longest commitment, and it is a division rather than what leaves your account that day. The question it asks is not what a month costs but whether you will still be opening the app in month nine. Check, too, what the refund terms are on a first payment and on a renewal, since they are often different.
Pay per lesson with a tutor
A tutor is paid for time. Tutors are usually booked by the lesson or the hour, often through a marketplace, and each tutor normally sets their own price, which varies widely. Some marketplaces sell single lessons, some sell packages, and some sell a plan that renews on a cycle.
What this shape does to you: the bill grows with use rather than staying flat, and every hour is a decision. That makes each one feel worth using well, and a missed one feel expensive. On a renewing plan, check whether unused hours carry over.
A free exchange, with optional paid extras
A language exchange is usually free at its core: you talk with a partner who wants to learn your language, and you help them in return. Many exchange apps sell a paid tier on top, which typically adds things like translation tools, more partner searches or no ads.
What this shape does to you: the money is rarely the cost. The cost is time and reciprocity, since half of every exchange is yours to give, and finding a partner who stays is part of the work.
A general AI chatbot subscription
A general-purpose AI assistant can be asked to talk with you in a language. Many have a free tier and a monthly subscription that raises usage limits or unlocks newer models. You are paying for the assistant as a whole, and language practice is one of many things it can do.
What this shape does to you: if you already pay for one, conversation practice may cost nothing extra. It is a general tool rather than one built for language practice, so how it practises with you is something you set up yourself, in the instructions you give it.
Parla's bill
Parla is a flat subscription with two lengths: 14 euro a month, or 99 euro a year, VAT included, which is about 27 cents a day. Either one covers every language and every companion, including ones added later, so a second language leaves the bill where it was. There is no message count to watch, so a long evening costs the same as a short one.
The first seven days are free, once per account, starting at your first message. No card is needed to begin, and nothing is charged when the week ends. The subscription can be paused for two or four weeks, or cancelled, from one screen. Cancelling stops the next charge; the period already paid for is not refunded.
What the money buys: an AI companion who texts with you on Telegram, voice notes both ways, corrections made inside the reply, and a letter every Sunday for each language. It starts at roughly A2, so if you cannot yet hold a simple conversation, a course is the better place to begin, and many let you start one for free.
| Shape | How you pay | What recurs |
|---|---|---|
| Free with a paid tier | Nothing, or a subscription for extras | The subscription, if you take it |
| Subscription course | Usually monthly or a longer term | The renewal, until you cancel |
| Tutor | Usually per lesson or hour | Each booking, or a plan's cycle |
| Language exchange | Usually free, extras optional | Only the extras, if you take them |
| AI chatbot | Free tier or a monthly plan | The plan, if you take it |
| Parla | 14 euro a month or 99 euro a year | The renewal, until you pause or cancel |
Reading any bill, ours included
Five questions settle most of it. What does the free side actually include? Which tier holds the thing you came for? Is the monthly figure a charge or a division? What happens on the renewal date, and is any refund offered? And how many screens stand between you and cancelling?
None of the answers makes one product better than another. They make each price legible, so that the number you see at checkout, in your currency and on your store, means something when it arrives.
